Adjacent Words

Faction definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FAC'TION, n. [L. factio, from facio, to make or do.]
1. A party, in political society, combined or acting in union, in opposition to the prince, government or state; usually applied to a minority, but it may be applied to a majority. sometimes a state is divided into factions nearly equal. Rome was almost always disturbed by factions. Republics are proverbial for factions, and factions in monarchies have often effected revolutions.
A feeble government produces more factions than an oppressive one.
By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.
2. Tumult; discord; dissension.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a clique (often secret) that seeks power usually through intrigue [syn: cabal, faction, junto, camarilla]
2: a dissenting clique [syn: faction, sect]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle French & Latin; Middle French, from Latin faction-, factio act of making, faction — more at fashion Date: 1509 1. a party or group (as within a government) that is often contentious or self-seeking ; clique 2. party spirit especially when marked by dissension • factional adjective • factionalism noun • factionally adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 a small organized dissentient group within a larger one, esp. in politics. 2 a state of dissension within an organization. Etymology: F f. L factio -onis f. facere fact- do, make 2. n. a book, film, etc., using real events as a basis for a fictional narrative or dramatization. Etymology: blend of FACT and FICTION

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Faction Fac"tion, n. [L. factio a doing, a company of persons acting together, a faction: cf. F. faction See Fashion.] 1. (Anc. Hist.) One of the divisions or parties of charioteers (distinguished by their colors) in the games of the circus. 2. A party, in political society, combined or acting in union, in opposition to the government, or state; -- usually applied to a minority, but it may be applied to a majority; a combination or clique of partisans of any kind, acting for their own interests, especially if greedy, clamorous, and reckless of the common good. 3. Tumult; discord; dissension. They remained at Newbury in great faction among themselves. --Clarendon. Syn: Combination; clique; junto. See Cabal.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(factions) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A faction is an organized group of people within a larger group, which opposes some of the ideas of the larger group and fights for its own ideas. A peace agreement will be signed by the leaders of the country's warring factions. N-COUNT 2. Faction is also used to describe argument and disagreement within a group of people. Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Combination (against a government), cabal, junto, clique, party. 2. Tumult, turbulence, turbulency, disorder, sedition, seditiousness, refractoriness, recalcitration, discord, dissension, disagreement.

Moby Thesaurus

American Party, Anti-Monopoly Party, Bull Moose Party, Communist Party, Conservative Party, Constitutional Union Party, Democratic Party, Democratic-Republican Party, Farmer-Labor Party, Federalist Party, Free Soil Party, Greenback Party, Know-Nothing Party, Labour Party, Liberal Party, Liberal Republican Party, Liberty Party, National Republican Party, Populist Party, Progressive Party, Prohibition Party, Republican Party, Socialist Labor Party, Socialist Party, Socialist Workers Party, Tammany Hall, Tory Party, Whig Party, affiliation, age group, aggressiveness, antagonism, argumentation, band, battalion, bellicosity, belligerence, bevy, bickering, bloc, body, branch, breakaway group, brigade, bunch, cabal, cadre, camarilla, camp, cast, caucus, church, circle, city hall, clannishness, clanship, clash, clashing, clique, cliqueyness, cliquishness, cliquism, coalition, cohort, combativeness, combine, communion, community, company, complement, conflict, contention, contentiousness, contingent, contradiction, controversy, corps, coterie, covey, crew, crowd, denomination, denominationalism, detachment, detail, difference, disaccord, disaccordance, disagreement, discord, discordance, discordancy, discrepancy, disharmony, disparity, dissension, dissent, dissidence, dissonance, disunion, disunity, divergence, diversity, division, esprit de corps, ethnic group, ethnocentricity, exclusiveness, factionalism, factiousness, fellowship, flak, fleet, gang, group, grouping, groupment, in-group, inaccordance, inequality, infighting, interest, interest group, intrigue, irascibility, irritability, jarring, junta, junto, litigiousness, lobby, machine, major party, minor party, minority group, mob, movement, multiple party system, negation, offshoot, one-party system, opposition, opposition party, oppugnancy, order, organization, out-group, outfit, pack, part, partiality, partisan spirit, partisanism, partisanship, party, party in power, party spirit, peer group, persuasion, phalanx, platoon, political machine, political party, posse, pressure group, pugnacity, quarrelsomeness, regiment, religious order, repugnance, rift, ring, rupture, salon, schism, school, sect, sectarianism, sectarism, sectionalism, sedition, segment, set, shrewishness, side, silent majority, society, splinter, splinter group, splinter party, split, squad, stable, strife, string, team, third party, tribe, troop, troupe, two-party system, unharmoniousness, variance, variety, version, vocal minority, wing